What We Saw: Preseason Week 2

We're getting closer and closer to real football.

Ben Brown
What We Saw 3 Years Ago
Series Navigation
Introduction
Patriots @ Eagles
Bengals @ Washington
Chiefs @ Cardinals
Bills @ Bears
Jets @ Packers
Falcons @ Dolphins
Ravens @ Panthers
Lions @ Steelers
Titans @ Buccaneers
Texans @ Cowboys
Colts @ Vikings
Broncos @ Seahawks
Raiders @ Rams
Giants @ Browns
49ers @ Chargers
Jaguars @ Saints

Lions @ Steelers

Final Score: Steelers 26, Lions 20

Writer: Ben Brown (@BenBrownPL on Twitter)

 

Pittsburgh played most of their starting offense throughout the opening half, while Detroit sat most of their starters in this one. Ben Roethlisberger and the Steelers punted on their first drive and then rattled off five straight scoring drives to make it 23-0 late in the third quarter. Detroit would answer with a 14 play, 82-yard drive that resulted in a touchdown and would score two more TDs in the fourth quarter to put them within striking distance. But it was too little too late.

Roethlisberger led the charge for fantasy-relevant players and looked like the Big Ben of old. Eric Ebron got back to his drop-happy ways and if that continues he may start losing critical red zone snaps to Pat Freiermuth, who made two excellent touchdown receptions from Roethlisberger. This was the biggest development of the night and something to keep an eye on early in the season.

On the Detroit side, the offense was an issue until the reserves were in late in the 4th quarter. The guy I like the most is Amon-Ra St. Brown, who was targeted five times in only 11 snaps. He didn’t jump off the stat sheet by any means but if the offense is going to look to get the ball in his hands that’s a notable development.

 

Detroit Lions

 

Quarterback

 

David Blough: 12/17, 143 yards, TD, sack | 2 carries, 26 yards

Tim Boyle: 7/15, 44 yards | 1 carry, -1 yards

 

Tim Boyle started at QB and threw a bullet on the first play to Quintez Cephus.

 

 

Later in the quarter he rolled out to his right and threw a bad ball across his body that was nearly intercepted. He faced a third and eight on the same drive and threw a high pass to Amon-Ra St. Brown that was just over his head and they were forced to punt. This was kind of the story for Boyle all night – make one strong throw, then throw two bad ones.

One of those great throws was this ball to St. Brown.

 

 

Should St. Brown have come down with it? Probably? That’s a tough catch that maybe only the top 10% of receivers in the league can come down with consistently. Either way, Boyle gave him and him only a chance to catch it. For the most part, though, Boyle looked the part of a backup QB.

David Blough replaced him in the third quarter and his most notable contributions were two scrambles that both went for 13 yards. He did help spark the Detroit offense and led them down the field on three touchdown scoring drives. He got plenty of run last year with Matthew Stafford on the shelf and we already know what Blough looks like as a starter in the league. It’s not great. Either way, if needed in a pinch, he has some experience that many teams look for.

 

Running Back

 

Craig Reynolds: 5 carries, 29 yards, TD | 3 targets, 2 catches, 15 yards

Jermar Jefferson: 3 carries, 22 yards

Godwin Igwebuike: 7 carries, 21 yards, TD | 1 target, 1 reception, 4 yards

Dedrick Mills: 4 carries, 9 yards | 2 targets, 2 receptions, 7 yards

 

There wasn’t much to talk about for this group. Both D’Andre Swift and Jamaal Williams sat this one out, and rookie Jermar Jefferson started it. He had a really nice run that picked up 10 yards and we didn’t really see much from him after. I like what I saw and I’d like to see more from Jefferson next week.

 

 

Godwin Igwebuike scored the only touchdown on the ground for Detroit on the first play of the fourth quarter. He’s a former defensive back trying to make the transition to RB and he was given plenty of opportunity to show off on Saturday night. He had a couple of nice runs where he made defenders miss, including the touchdown carry, but the touchdown should have been called back on an obvious holding penalty that wasan’t flagged.

 

Wide Receiver/Tight End

 

Breshad Perriman: 2 targets

Quintez Cephus: 3 targets, 2 receptions, 15 yards

Amon-Ra St. Brown: 5 targets, 2 receptions, 12 yards

Tom Kennedy: 4 targets, 4 receptions, 61 yards

Geronimo Allison: 2 targets, 1 reception, 22 yards

Alize Mack: 3 targets, 2 receptions, 16 yards

Brock Wright: 2 targets, 1 reception, 15 yards

Javon McKinley: 1 target. 1 reception, 10 yards

Darren Fells: 1 target, 1 reception, 10 yards

 

I would have liked to see more run for Quintez Cephus in this game. He looked like their #1 receiver after both Kenny Golladay and Marvin Jones left in free agency, and then Detroit went out and acquired three receivers that all might be better than Cephus. We didn’t see Tyrell Williams in this one, and Breshad Perriman was only targeted twice on his handful of snaps, so the fact that Amon-Ra St. Brown got more work than Cephus may tell us all that we need to know about where Cephus stands in this offense. It’s not like he lit the world on fire last year and looked like an immediate starter in the league – he still has something to prove. And this could have been a good opportunity to do so, but alas he did not.

St. Brown stood out mostly because of how many looks he got in such a short amount of time. Five targets in 11 snaps is a lot. Considering how much Jared Goff loved his slot receiver in Los Angeles, Cooper Kupp, it makes sense that this team would want to find a slot option for Goff to target. I think they’ve found their man. Brown has stood out at camp so far with his effort and intensity, something that new head coach Dan Campbell clearly enjoys. There’s also this quote from St. Brown in an interview with Jeff Kerr of CBS:

 

“I love Jared. He’s awesome, awesome dude. Great quarterback who understands the game. He’s taught me some things about certain routes and things Cooper Kupp did with him back with the Rams that he loved. He checks in on me. He’s actually out here in Los Angeles now, so we’ll try to link up and catch some balls.”

 

Jared Goff is teaching him things that Cooper Kupp does? Sign me up for that. He’s my late-round sleeper pick in all drafts this year.

The only other member of this group that stood out was Darren Fells, and not for good reason. He committed a false start and two holding penalties in this game. For fantasy purposes, Fells isn’t really relevant, but the veteran did not show up with the right mindset to play in this one.

 

Pittsburgh Steelers

 

Quarterback

 

Ben Roethlisberger: 8/10, 137 yards, 2 TD

Mason Rudolph: 13/18, 138 yards | 1 carry, 1 yard

Dwayne Haskins: 4/7, 56 yards, Sack | 1 carry, 10 yards

 

All eyes were on Ben Roethlisberger heading into this game as it was his first appearance of the preseason. He was visibly frustrated after the Steelers’ offense committed a false start prior to the first play from scrimmage. By all accounts he’s looked strong in camp. and he looked really good in this game. If anyone was still questioning his arm strength, you shouldn’t be anymore.

On their first drive, Roethlisberger faced a third and four. He scrambled in the pocket and made a solid throw to Eric Ebron, who immediately proceeded to drop it.

 

 

Most of his throws were sharp with some zip to them.

 

 

He threw a deep ball to Diontae Johnson that could have been deeper, but a catch is a catch. The deep ball is still something to monitor with Ben as we get into the season.

 

 

Shortly after, Roethlisberger found rookie tight end Pat Freiermuth in the back of the end zone after a vicious pump fake. And I mean vicious.

 

 

I find it so impressive that Roethlisberger was able to hold back on the throw once he recognized that Freiermuth wasn’t quite ready for the ball yet, then threw an absolute dart that the kid went up to grab.

The Roethlisberger-Freiermuth (that’s a mouthful) combo wasn’t quite done yet. Ben threw another dart to the rookie that he once again hauled in for his second score of the night.

 

 

After that, Roethlisberger’s night was done. I was impressed with what I saw. His arm is still strong and, despite the one deep ball that was underthrown, he had no problem getting the ball to the receiver. Considering the weapons around him this season, I wouldn’t be shocked if Roethlisberger puts up one final fantasy Top 10 season.

Mason Rudolph came on in relief and actually looked good out there. He threw a few solid balls and, most importantly, looked confident. He didn’t make any bad mistakes in the first half. He threw this pass to Ebron that I thought was straight out of the Roethlisberger playbook.

 

 

He also took a hard shot on a sack late in the 2nd quarter that, given his history with concussions, was initially scary. He hopped back up and seemed fine, but it was scary nonetheless.

 

 

Rudolph threw this ball into the end zone and Juju Smith-Schuster nearly made the reception. He put it in a spot where only Juju could get it and they very nearly had six points.

 

 

That’s a tough catch with a defender wrapped around you.

He did, of course, have some bad throws. One that stood out was this one to Freiermuth which could have been his third score of the day. Instead, the ball was behind him and could have been intercepted. Sure, he was under a lot of pressure, but it was still a bad throw.

 

 

Rudolph also made another throw on a third and four deep in Lions territory that he forced into triple coverage. The ball should have been intercepted but it luckily wasn’t. It was a terrible decision.

I thought Rudolph looked better in the first half than he did in the second. It could have been that he still had most of the Steelers’ main weapons out there, but even Juju was out there midway through the third quarter. Rudolph is a backup who has some talent and could light up a bad defense if forced into action.

 

Running Backs

 

Najee Harris: 4 carries, 10 yards | 3 targets, 2 receptions, 53 yards

Anthony McFarland Jr.: 6 carries, 11 yards | 2 targets, 2 receptions, 21 yards

Kalen Ballage: 7 carries, 30 yards | 2 targets, 2 receptions, 17 yards

Jaylen Samuels: 7 carries, 16 yards

 

Najee Harris had two plays that really stood out to me. First was his first carry of the day where he pounded his way for eight yards on the ground. He runs with so much effort.

 

 

The second play is likely one you’ve already seen highlights of, and you don’t need my commentary on it.

 

 

Don’t worry about the 2.5 YPC in the box score – this man is a beast and will carry your fantasy team if you draft him.

I was really impressed with Anthony McFarland Jr. in this game as well. Again, the box score doesn’t tell the whole story. He looked quick with really good feet, and I don’t remember him looking this fast at any point last season.

 

 

 

McFarland was also the second back to enter the game, so it’s pretty clear that he’s the backup option behind Harris right now. He has officially supplanted Jaylen Samuels on the depth chart, and I wouldn’t worry much about Kalen Ballage either. Speaking of Ballage, his most notable play was on a screen pass where he stopped running to avoid contact rather than try to run over a defensive back. Not a linebacker, a DB. Not a good sign.

 

Wide Receivers/Tight Ends

 

Juju Smith-Schuster: 6 targets, 5 receptions, 39 yards

Eric Ebron: 6 targets, 4 receptions, 59 yards

Diontae Johnson: 1 target, 1 reception, 43 yards

Pat Freiermuth: 3 targets, 2 receptions, 19 yards, 2 TD

James Washington: 4 targets, 3 receptions, 24 yards

Ray-Ray McCloud: 3 targets, 2 receptions, 35 yards

 

Juju Smith-Schuster played into the third quarter of this one and he was involved fairly often. He made a few great blocks that sprung a couple of runs for extra yards, and the Steelers’ broadcast was gushing about how he’s worked with Hines Ward in the past on his blocking. There was also the near catch in the end zone late in the second quarter that could have been a Top 10 play on Sportscenter had he been able to hold onto the ball. All in all, he looked really good.

 

 

He did go into the blue tent with a hand injury and did not return to the game, but all reports are that he will be fine.

 

 

One guy who didn’t look so good was Eric Ebron. He had that drop on their first drive of the game that stalled it out. He then redeemed himself on Najee Harris‘ long catch and run by throwing his body in front of a defender that helped spring the long gain. He also had a boneheaded false start penalty when they were backed up on their own two-yard line. It was a see-saw kind of night for Ebron who has proven in his career he can be a trick or treat type of player depending on the night.

Meanwhile, Pat Freiermuth may be hot on Ebron’s tail for Roethlisberger’s favorite end zone target. Two TDs in this game on two absolute bullet throws will go a long way toward Freiermuth having a legitimate role this season. Keep an eye on him early on and he may be a top TE target on waivers in the first few weeks.

 

— Ben Brown (@BenBrownPL on Twitter)

Series Navigation
Introduction
Patriots @ Eagles
Bengals @ Washington
Chiefs @ Cardinals
Bills @ Bears
Jets @ Packers
Falcons @ Dolphins
Ravens @ Panthers
Lions @ Steelers
Titans @ Buccaneers
Texans @ Cowboys
Colts @ Vikings
Broncos @ Seahawks
Raiders @ Rams
Giants @ Browns
49ers @ Chargers
Jaguars @ Saints

2 responses to “What We Saw: Preseason Week 2”

  1. Isaac Hernandez says:
    August 23, 2021 at 6:18 pm

    Test

    Reply
  2. Clint Graves says:
    August 24, 2021 at 12:20 am

    Great read thank you!

    Reply

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.